Attachment of buttons to fabric



May 24, 1949. B, A, WEYL 2,470,963

ATTACHMENT OF BUTTONS T0 FABRIC Filed Dec.- 21, 1945 @W y 1:595- f3' 2a@www/ Z l ci' FF7. @gw 2"" Zij/2,57 00a @m 300 BernardA. Weyl PatentedMay 24, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE N ATTACHMENT ozli'oivs ToFABRIC .lnmlicammn gtabsuer'i 515,102'

My invention relates to buttons, and my object is to provide a buttonwith improved means for securing it to cloth or other fabric.

By virtue of the new and useful improvements herein disclosed,- a buttonmay be readily ap plied and anchored to cloth, and contrary to the caseof buttons secured to cloth by sewing or any of the other usualcontrivances, the practice of my invention fortifies or strengthens thefabric at the point or area where the attachment is made. Greatersecurity of attachment is obtained, with decrease in the normal tendencyfor the fabric to tear or weaken under the effects ofthe strains imposedupon the button in service.

The invention will be understood upon reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a button that provides anexemplary embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a view in plan of the underside of said button;

Figure 3 is a view of the button in medial section and to larger scale,the button being shown in position to be applied and secured to a web offabric. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, heat is utilizedin effecting the attachment of the button to the fabric, and in thisview a domestic electric iron is fragmentarily illustrated as the meansfor supplying the heat;

Figure 4 is a. view corresponding to Figure 3, showing the buttonattached to the fabric;

Figure 5 is a view in medial section of one of the numberless modifiedforms of buttons in which the invention may be incorporated, and in thisview also are shown a web of fabric to receive the button and a .pair ofspecial applicating dies;

Figure 6is a view in side elevation of the applied button of Figure 5;and

Figure 7 is a sectional view, illustrating another modication of theinvention.

In accordance with the invention, I provide a device which may besecurely united to the body of a button, and which may be renderedsuillciently liquid to enter or penetrate the pervious body of thefabric at the spot where button attachment is to be made, and thensolidified to provide a secure anchorage of the button to the fabric,with reinforcement of the fabric in the spot or small area ofattachment. Referring to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings. such a device 3is shown united to the body ofa button 2.

The device 3 comprises a body of plastic material that is secured to thebody of the button and extends therefrom in a portion la. The buttonincludes a protuberance or protruding body portion 2a to which thedevice is united. While it is possible under the teaching of myinvention to form the entire button body and the protruding portion 3aintegrally of a material having the characteristics specified, in theusual case the button will be made independently of bone, glass, metal,plastic or any other suitable material, and the device 3 will be formed`of the essential material that is subsequently integrated to the buttonby welding or fusion through the use of heat or a solvent, or by meansof an adhesive, or by means of mechanical anchorage. In Figure 3, I showthe body portion 2a of the buttonas provided with a recess 2b having awall grooved at 2c in which a portion of the body of the device 3 isshaped and hardened, affording the desired security of union of theparts.

As already set forth the material of which the device 3 is formed (or atleast the portion thereof which protrudes from the button) comprises anormally solid substance that may be partially liquefied or renderedplastic when desired, and then in a relatively short time thereafterresolidified. I contemplate that the material may be one of the knownglue-forming substances or cements that may be shaped and solidified inthe form of the device 3, and that may by means of a solvent be renderedliquid or semi-fluid to the extent necessary to permit the portion 3a ofthe device to penetrate the pervious body of the fabric to which thebutton is to be secured. whereby, when the solvent is evaporated ordissipated, the fluid or plastic body portion of the device resolidifiesand forms a secure attachment of the device and button to the fabric,the solidied fabric-impregnating `portion of the device serving not onlyas a button anchorage but also as a fabric reinforcement in the spot orarea of the attachment. K

While within the ambit of my invention I may use a solvent inplasticizing or liquefying the portion 3a, I preferably use heat, and tosuch end the material of which the button-attaching device is formedcomprises a thermo-plastic or thermosetting material. As exemplary ofeither practice alluded to, I shall mention as suitable for forming thedevice several of the materials now available on the market, with theunderstanding that many other materials exist which also will provesuitable. Specically, a vinyl chloride acetate resin, preferably if notnecessarily of the flexible type, may be used. This resin is known as amolding plastic, having a molding temperature of from 250 to 340 F., anda comby acids and alkalies,

' of the button to the fabric.

pression molding pressure of from 500 to 1000 pounds per square inch.This plastic has, it will be perceived, a molding temperature above theboiling point of water. It is practically unaffected and resistsalcohols, aliphatic hydrocarbons and oils, and ketones and esters aresolvents. Before considering llother of the materials that may be used,the description of the practice of the invention will be completed.

Thebuttonlto which vthe device 3 is united, is placed in position overthe point on the fabric 4 to which the button is to be attached, and thefabric is supported upon the hot face of an electric iron 5, an electriclamp, or the hot surface of any other suitably heated article that ishandy, the requisite being that the heat shall be adequate to soften orliquefy the portion 3a of the button structure, without scorching orotherwise harming the fabric. When the button has thus been spotted onthe fabric, the button is pressed towardsthe fabric, and the portion 3aof the fastening device 3, softening under the effect of the heat, iscaused to penetrate the body of the fabric, as indicated at 3c in Figure4. Then the fabric and the applied button are removed from the hotsurface of the iron, whereupon the softened plastic materialresolidiiies and provides the desired attachment of the button, as wellas the reinforcement of the fabric at the point of attachment. It willbe perceived that the solidified fabric-impregnating body portion 3c ofthe device 3 provides in effect a rivetwhose head is embedded in, notmerely overlaid upon, the body of the fabric.

In case a solvent instead of heat is used in applying the button, theproper solvent for the ma terial` of which the attaching means portion3a is formed, is soaked into the fabric at the point where attachment isto be made, and then the button is pressed againstA the fabric, with thetip 3a of the attaching means applied to the saturated spot of thefabric. The body of the device slowly reactsto the solvent and pressure,and becomes sufficiently liquified or flowable to work its way throughthe fabric. When the body of portion 3a has Abeen intercalated in thefabric, the solvent is allowed to evaporate and the body 3a solidies andprovides the desired anchorage Ths'use of solvent is only one of severalpermissible methods of using solvents in the practice of the invention,but the present indications are that the use of heat is more desirable,since the time required for the solvent and pressure to make the portion3a ilow through the fabric is greater than in the case of the use ofheat and pressure.

In Figure 5 is shown a different form of button 20 having a modifiedform of attaching device 30 united thereto. If desired, and as shown inthis figure of drawing, a special pair of applicator dies 5 and 'l maybe provided for applying buttons to fabric. The lower die 6 may beheated to desired temperature by means of an electric heating coilr 60;the heated die may be stationary, while the upper die 1 may be organizedin the movable element of any suitable press, a matter withwhich mypresent invention is not immediately concerned. The upper die 1 may beprovided with a matrix 8 to receive and position the body` of thebutton, and the lower die 0 may be provided with a recess 9 to receivesome of the plastic material that is pressed into and through the fabricwhen the dies are closed, asthey are, and the portion 30a of thebutton-attaching device liquefied and forced into and through thepervious body of the 4 fabric. Then the dies with the applied buttonremoved. The plastic material, shaped and cured in the body of thefabric, solidies and provides the desired secure attachment of thebutton to the fabric, it being noted that, by virtue of the recess 9 inthe die l, a portiom of the shaped and cured plastic materia] advatageously overlies the fabric, as shown at 30e in e 6.

Figure 7 serves to illustrate one of the many permissible variations inthe manner in which the button-attaching device may be united to thebutton. Here the button 200 is provided with a protruding portion 200ahaving a shouldered tip to which a body of plastic material in liquidstate is applied in a dipping operation. The applied materialsolidiiies, forming a button-attaching device 300, by means of which thebutton may be secured to fabric in substantially the manner described ofthe structures of Figures 1 to 6.

The protruding portions 2a, 20a and 200e of the buttons serve not onlyto receive and secure the button-attaching devices, but also serve toprovide spacers which position the bodies of the applied buttons ataslight interval from the surface of the fabric to which attachment ismade, manifestly a desirable feature.

From the foregoing specification, it will be understood that the portionof the button-securing devices, 3, 30 and 300, which in liquefied orpartially liquefied condition are caused to penetrate the fabric, may besaid to be in solidified inter,- calated union with the body of thefabric, and, as indicated at 3c in Figure 4 and at 30e in Figure 6, thelocalized but somewhat outspread union of said devices with the fabricmay be defined as a mushroomed intercalated union.

It will also be noted that the protruding portions 2a and 20a of thebuttons which engage the button-securing devices 3 and 30 may be termedanchorage portions, and to the extent that such anchorage portionsinclude recesses in which portions of the button-securing devices arereceived and engaged, such anchorage portions may be properly calledfemale anchorage portions, while the complementary portions of thebutton-securing devices that enter the female anchorage portions may beknown as male anchorage portions. In Figure 7 the anchorage portion 200aon the button has the body of the button-securing device enveloped uponit, whereforethe portion 200a on the button is the male anchorageportion, and the portion of the securing device 200 which engages it isthe female anchorage portion, this interchangeability of the elements ofthe structure of the invention being within the contemplation of theappended claims.

The term fabric will be understood to include not merely woven orknitted fabrics such as are used in articles of clothing and otherarticles formed of cloth, but to include webs or bodies of otherstructure that are sufficiently pervious to receive and retain thefastener of this invention.

The particular service to which the fabric with the applied button issubject will, of course, de-

termine the type of plastic material used in the f are opened and thefabric taching device is formed will be made to meet the particularservice conditions, and it will be understood that the plastics art hasavailable thermoplastic and thermo-setting materials capable of meetingall situations in this particular. In addition to the vinyl chlorideacetate resins above specified, a few of the other suitable plastic mafterials may be mentioned, with a brief notation of certain of theirprincipal characteristics:

Polyvinyl chloride resins: Molding temperature ranging from 290 to 350F., and a compression molding pressure of from 500 to 1000 pounds persquare inch. These resinsare soluble in ketones and esters, but areresistant or inert to acids, alkalies and the usual organic solvents.

Vinylidene chloride resins: Highly resistant to organic solvents, andresistant to acids and alkalies. Molding pressure varies from 500 to5000 pounds, and molding temperature from 220 to 350 F.

Polyvinyl butyral resins: Prepared in thermoplastic form to possess theflexibility that is frequently,if not always, desirable in thebuttonattaching device. This material has a molding temperature of from250 to 350 F., and a molding pressure of from 300 to 3000 pounds. Thepolyvinyl butyral resins are soluble in alcohols and are distorted whensubject to aromatic hydrocarbons.

It is deemed needless to specify all of the various materials and theirproperties that are known and available for the practice of myinvention. I may mention polyvinyl alcohol, methyl methacrylate resins,organic polysulde molding compounds, cellulose compounds,phenol-formaldehyde compounds, rubber compounds, urea-formaldelmve andphenol-furfurol compounds as eX- emplary of the various materials thatmay be used. Practically all of these materials may be pigmented orcolored, so that the button-attaching device may be colored to match orblend with the body of the button and/or the fabric to which attachmentis to be made.

Notice is given of my copending application, Serial No. 515,101, ledDecember '21, 1943, containing claims directed to the method ofattaching buttons to fabric which is disclosed but not claimed herein.

Numerous variations and modifications, additional to those specificallymentioned above, may be utilized by the artisan without departing fromthe essence of the invention defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In the combination of a fabric and a button secured thereto, theinvention herein described that comprises a device having a liquefiablebody portion solidified in a localized mushroomed intercalated unionwith the body of the fabric and a body portion extending outward fromthe face of gie fabric into secure engagement with said but- 2. In thecombination of a fabric and a button secured thereto, the inventionherein described wherein said button is provided with a protrudingbutton-securing device comprising a liqueable body portion solidified ina localized mushroomed intercalated union with the body of the fabric.

3. In the combination of a fabric and a button secured thereto, theinvention herein described wherein said button includes a femaleanchorage portion, and a device for securing the button to the fabriccomprising a temporarily liqueable body portion soldied in a localizedmushroomed intercalated union with the body of said fabric and a maleanchorage portion united with the female anchorage portion of thebutton.

4. In the combination of a viabric and a button secured thereto, theinvention herein described wherein said button includes a centrallylocated socket, and a device for securing the button to the fabriccomprising a thermo-plastic portion solidified in a localized mushroomedintercalated union with the body of said fabric and a portion engagedand secured in said socket in the button.

5. In the combination of a fabric and a button secured thereto, theinvention herein described wherein said button includes a femaleanchorage portion, and a device for securing the button to the fabriccomprising a thermo-plastic body portion solidified in a localizedmushroomed intercalated union with the body of said fabric and a maleanchorage portion united with the female anchorage portion of thebutton.

6. In combination, a fabric, a button of relatively high melting pointmaterial having an integrai annular bottom portion of the same material,the bottom surface of said portion being disposed in contiguousrelationship with the fabric, and a thermoplastic material of relativelylow melting point filling the opening of said annular portion andmushroomed through the fabric and onto said bottom surface of saidbottom portion to form a rigid localized bond between the button andfabric.

BERNARD A. WEYL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

